Dare You to Move by Switchfoot
by Misty8
Summary: A songfic of "Dare You to Move" by Switchfoot. A DracoHermionie pairing, but not sugar-coated. Please read and review!


Dare You to Move  
by Switchfoot

He sat against the cold stone floor of the owlery, alone with his thoughts. They were the only thing to comfort him of late, and even they weren't too appealing. His memories suffocated him, close enough to the point where he was physically short of breath. He closed his eyes tight in attempt to shut them out, but to no avail. His own thoughts betrayed him, and left him to suffer. He began to hear soft footsteps from the stairway, but he ignored them, fearful of his hope being betrayed again.

"Malfoy?" A soft voice called in the darkness. He was too numb from the torture to even open his eyes, let alone turn his head to see the face of the one who interrupted his solitude. He knew a wand had been pointed at him, but he didn't care. Granger always threatened him with her wand.

_Welcome to the planet_

_Welcome to existence_

_Everyone's here, everyone's here_

_Everybody's watching you now_

_Everybody waits for you now_

_What happens next, what happens next?_

Hermione stepped closer, and first noticed his torn robes and scared body. She looked closer and uncovered dried blood in his hair. Instantly, she was afraid for the Order. "Who did you kill?" She asked, shaking a bit as she spoke the fearful words, but he just shook his head, the first movement that he allowed since her arrival.

"Pain…that house…torture…no more…" he stammered weakly.

"No more what?" She knelt next to his bedraggled form.

"Death," he whispered, turning to look at her and opening his eyes.

_Dare you to move_

_Dare you to move_

_Dare you to lift yourself up off the floor_

_Dare you to move_

_Dare you to move_

_Like today never happened_

_Today never happened before_

"What are you saying, Malfoy?" Hermione inquired while searching his eyes. They appeared weak and strangely empty of the malice that had filled them for the past seven years.

"I'm saying that I can't go on like this. I am not my father. I won't see another friend die."

Hermione didn't say anything, but she smoothed back a piece of his hair off his face, with a simple tenderness that astounded Draco. "I won't go back," he swore. "They can kill me first. And they will."

Hermione shook her head in disbelief. "No. What happened to you, Malfoy? Why this sudden outburst of humanity? I can't trust you."

"I know you can't. I wouldn't expect you to. But a lifetime friend of my perished under my own wand, only because the Dark Lord doubted his father's loyalty," he stared off into space, drawing new strength from his own words. "I won't do it again. Not even the Dark Lord can make me."

_Welcome to the fallout_

_Welcome to existence_

_The tension is here, the tension is here_

_Between who you are and who you could be_

_Between how it is and how it should be_

Hermione stayed silent, so he continued. "I'm sorry Gr-Hermione, for everything I've done to you. Everything I've done to everyone. I've turned into the one thing I've hated most of my life."

"And what's that?"

"My father," he answered, looking down.

Her heart went out to him, no matter how hard she tried to keep it back. He looked so genuinely sorry. But she couldn't trust him, could she? After all he'd done to her, Harry, and Ron? After all the times that he had called her "Mudblood"? She could forgive him for that?

He looked at her again. "I've always cared about you, even though I couldn't show it."

She broke his gaze and looked away, unable to process coherent thoughts. Why had she cared so much? Every time he mocked her, she couldn't shake it off normally. It stung so badly. But why?

_Dare you to move_

_Dare you to move_

_Dare you to lift yourself up off the floor_

_Dare you to move_

_Dare you to move_

_Like today never happened, today never happened_

"You were so evil…" she whispered out loud, finding her voice. He nodded and looked down. "I know. I was supposed to be. I hated you. I hated you and Potter and Weasley for everything you stood for. How could someone be so good, so selfless? How can you show your true emotions like that? I'm not allowed to feel anything, much less show them. I resented you so much for that."

"I'm not perfect.

"In comparison you are."

She looked down as he sat up. He leaned in and kissed her lips softly. He pulled away, almost guiltily. She looked at him, but not in surprise. "Why?"

"I've wanted to do that for the better half of two years now. Ever since I let myself start to feel."

_Maybe redemption has stories to tell_

_Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell_

_Where can you go to escape from yourself_

_Where're you gonna go?_

_Where're you gonna go?_

_Salvation is here_

She bit her lip at a loss for what to say or do. "I guess I should get you to Madame Pomprey's."

He shook his head, looking away. "No. No one cares if I live or die anyway."

"I do," she spoke without meaning to. But she meant her words, and she was starting to realize why.

He looked at her. "How can you? After everything I've done? You only want me dead."

"No, I don't,' she replied honestly. "Everyone deserves a second chance at redemption, I guess. Even Death Eaters."

He closed his eyes as her words pierced him.

"I can't promise you anything, Draco. But I'll try."

He didn't answer, but kissed her again. It was different that the first, as if he was promising something. She reveled, in her deepest heart of hearts in the kiss. She knew he was struggling to change, but trying nonetheless.

"It'll be hard, I know. But I will become someone who's worthy of you. I'll be more than this scum you see before you," he pledged. "But I need you to help me. Will you?"

"You know I will."

_Dare you to move_

_Dare you to move_

_Dare you to lift yourself up off the floor_

_Dare you to move_

_Dare you to move_

_Like today never happened, today never happened before_


End file.
